Had a wierd problem come up suddenly yesterday. I cannot get the transmission into 5th. Gears 1 to 4 work fine, but not 5th. Can't seem to move the shift lever past the 3-4 gate. Popped the shifter boot off inside to see if there was anything binding in there, but nothing obvious. Tried it by hand under the hood, and can pull the relay lever up a little bit, but can't get engage it. It's like the clutch gear is stuck on something.

Anyone ever had a problem like this? Any suggestions? I'm guessing the transmission will need to be opened to fix it, so may as well look for another one, and just change it out. Anyone have one they're will to part with for a reasonable price?

Oh, btw, car is a 2001 Golf, 264,000km. I've had it since 144,000km, so I don't know what might have happened to it before then. The shifter has never seemed as smooth as the one on my '90 GTI, or '82 Jetta, but I just figured it was because of the cable shifter linkage.

I would suggest to take the transmission cover off and see if your synchro engages on the 5th gear splines. Have someone in the car while you are checking it. VW trannies are usually very reliable...You may have something broken, no need to replace the transmission if just a part and tranny oil

I would suggest to take the transmission cover off and see if your synchro engages on the 5th gear splines. Have someone in the car while you are checking it.

To which cover are you referring? I noticed that the Bentley manual does not cover transmission disassembly anymore (the older manuals did). Are there any pictorial guides for transmission disassembly?

Thanks for your responses. I will try the linkage adjustment as per the video - very good how to, btw.

But I'm not sure if that will do it, because I can't even find 5th to shift into when I do it by hand under the hood on the lever on the transmission. I can get reverse, and 1..4, but can't pull it up to get 5th.

Are there any other manual transmission videos around? - disassembly, removal & install, etc. would be helpful in diagnosing and fixing the problem.

Thanks, I was planning to check the oil level too, although there have been no noticable leaks, except a little wetness around the drive flange seals. But I haven't had a VW yet (this is my 5th VW) that didn't have some seepage there, and have never had a problem with 5th.